LIQUOR IN KING COUNTRY
GRANTING OF LICENSES. OPPOSITION FROM MAORIS. TIGHTENING UP RESTRICTIONS WANTED. The granting of liquor licenses to the King Country was opposed by the meeting at the Te Kuiti Maori Pa on Saturday evening, held following upon the unveiling of the memorial to the late Mr. Peter Barton, and a resolution was carried unanimously that there should be a stiffening of the law in connection with the introduction of liquor into the King Country. It was suggested that the consigning of liquor into this area should be stopped altogether. The position regarding liquor in the King Country was very fully debated, being continued into the early hours of the morning. The speakers were mainly the older leaders of the tribe, who were very concerned over the amount of publicity, newspaper and otherwise, which had been given to this question. They did not desire the relaxing of the present restrictions.
Whilst deploring the amount of drinking amongst the Maori people, they considered that the position would not be relieved by the licensing of hotels. The Superintendent of the Methodist Maori Missions, the Rev. Laurenson, produced figures of the numbers of arrests for drunkenness in various areas, holding that this was one -of the best indices of the misuse of liquor, and demonstrated from this that, despite statements made, the position in the King Country was better than in licensed areas Another suggestion was that the present agitation was sponsored by the liquor trade itself. The effects of the operation of the Social Security Act were discussed by the meeting. A full discussion emanated on participation in the Centennial celebrations. Though it was pointed out that the Treaty of Waitangi had been violated by the New Zealand Government on several occasions in years gone by, the Maoris desired to participate in the celebrations in the spirit in which the treaty was signed, as the British Crown itself had no part in the breaches of the treaty.
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Bibliographic details
King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4809, 12 July 1939, Page 4
Word Count
327LIQUOR IN KING COUNTRY King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4809, 12 July 1939, Page 4
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